Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Bottle: Poured a clear dark brown color ale with a medium size foamy head with light retention and no lacing. Aroma of dry fruits with some caramelized malt notes and loads of residual sugars. Taste is also dominated by dark fruit with some plums notes with light unrefined caramelized malt with load of residual sugar. Body is not as full as I would have expected with medium-to-low carbonation and some warming alcohol noticeable. Too unbalanced for my taste with too much residuals sugars and almost no attenuation. (518 characters)

Pours out a deep, hazy brown with a lot of ruby red highlights and a khaki head.

The aroma has a lot of raspberry/ cherry with some figs, raisins and plums along with toffee, caramel some molasses and a hint of white pepper.

The taste has a lot of tart cherry and raspberry notes up front followed by dark fruits like figs, plums and raisins that flows into some very sweet caramel and toffee notes. There is some white pepper spice and a bit of bready malt too.

The body is full and the mouthfeel is rich and creamy. The ABV is decently hidden with only a bit of warming as it goes down.

This is a nice American attempt at a Belgian Dark Ale, but it doesn't quite live up to the traditional style. Nice red and dark fruit notes, but the Belgian yeast is missing. Very nice beer and definitely worth trying. (849 characters)

Pours a murky reddish-brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy rings of lace line the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, dark fruit, brown sugar, and slight spice aromas. Taste is much the same with a fruity flavor on the finish. There is an alcohol kick on the palate after each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is tasty and easy to drink. (511 characters)

When I heard about this beer being released I was stoked that Ralph Steadmen was finally getting his own beer from Flying Dog. After designing countless labels for the brewery I was really glad to see this beer being released in his honor.

I managed to find some of these at my local shop recently and I nearly shit when I say the price tag on it. I knew this would be a once and done kind of beer. It poured out as a nice brown color with a thin cream colored head on too. The retention and lacing were moderate. The smell was earthy and a little spicy, there was a subtle bready sweetness in there too. The taste of the beer didn't have as much depth as I was hoping for. It was malty, with some earthy spice in the finish. The taste is a little one dimensional. The mouthfeel was a little on the bland side too, it could have had more body and a bit more carbonation. Overall it's still a decent beer, if you can find it cheap enough I'd say try it but with a $21 tag on it I can't justify that. (1,000 characters)

This beer reminds me more of a flanders oud bruin. Hazed brown color with a fluffy quick dyeing tan head. Smells vinous with a bit of vinegar and some fruity belgian undertones.

Full body with low amounts of carbonation. A little thin on the finish.Sweet sherry and port like notes up front, faintly woody, with a definitive vinegar taste throughout. Finishes acidic with faint belgian yeast notes and a bit of alcohol heat. Long finish but overall the beer has good balance. Very acidic and again, very flander oud bruin with belgian dark ale notes beneath it all. As an oud bruin this beer is awesome. As a belgian dark ale not so much. But I really feel this beer should be re-categorized. (693 characters)

Taste: First was the dark fruits from the nose mixed with some lighter pear juice notes. The middle seemed to have a slightly earthy and nutty character, maybe from some flavoring hops? Then the finish was more of the fruity sweetness with a slight Belgian twang that lingered. No real clove or spice was present as with most Belgian style beers.

This beer really completed the amazing experience I had touring Flying Dog. Their staff really knew their beers and how each of them were brewed. The tour guide even let the group taste Snake Dog IPA from kettle to keg. I felt that was one of the best parts. You folks have to tour this brewery if ever in the Mid Atlantic area. (1,123 characters)

I was served this beer tonight at a bar in a flying dog goblet. I want to start off by saying that I absolutely love every Belgian beer I've ever drank, which is to say, many, and I also like every other flying dog beer I've ever had, which is also many, so I must say I was very disappointed in this beer.

A: Very dark. Had a strong reddish purple tinge to it. Maybe a finger of head.

S: Smells yeasty, but mostly a strong fruity/grapey smell to it.

T: There's a bit of a yeasty, bitter taste at first, but that quickly gives way to fruity esters. It tastes like a mix of 80% grape kool-aid with 20% cherry cough syrup. LIke seriously I drank it and immediately turned to my girlfriend and said " what the f***, this tastes like grape kool-aid. Try it." And she did and agreed with me completely.

M: Quite sweet. Not too heavy for a 10% ABV brew.

O: Unless you like to mix your beer with grape kool-aid, I would not recommend this beer. I mean I will admit that I have never drank any other beer that tastes like this before-- it is very unique, so if you're like me and you don't want to stop drinking beer until you've tried everything, give it a try, but don't get your hopes up. (1,189 characters)

I got to try this puppy stright from the tap at the Flying DOg Brewery after the tour. I was eager to try this one as it is a rareity. I didn't think they bottled this but judging from the only other reivew I guess they do. The St. Edman's tap was labeled as no.009.

I like Belgians personally so this was another plus. It pour dark, very dark but no as dark as a stout. Had a mix of brown in thrown together with black. No too much head at the top. Upon first wiff you defintely get a sense of the Belgian yeast notes which give off a fruity scent. It's not the typical citrus belgian note, but more of a darker fruit type, raisin/plum. Slightly bitter upon the tasting but similiar to other belgian beers with respect to fruit notes. It's strays from the normal ipas and seems to have a lower bitterness than the other they produce.

I wish I could get my hands on a few bottles of this for further review, but was limited to a sampling. 10% abv is a heavy hitter so you will be aware of the alcohol content in the beer. I bought a growler at the brewery but since it's a rareity they would not let me fill it up with this batch. (1,134 characters)

The beer poured a cloudy dark amber gold. It produced a deep tan, bubbly head, which dissipates fast, leaving little lacing.
The smell is yeast, tart and faint fruit.
Tasting the beer, the front is actually a dark fruit like prune and raisin, with a heavy dose of Belgian style yeast. Some tart and brown sugar in the middle, being finished by
Caramel and more yeast.
The alcohol of 10 percent ABV is certainly well hidden, but detectable.
For my book, this is an apexcellent beer and a must try! (503 characters)